At
the age of 28, Ben Chen founded Taiwan Jhonsin Co., Ltd., a supplier of plastic
materials and electronic packing materials and manufacturer of office and housewares
products. The company today is 21 years old.By Daniel Foong
At
the age of 28, Ben Chen founded Taiwan Jhonsin Co., Ltd., a supplier of plastic
materials and electronic packing materials and manufacturer of office and housewares
products. The company today is 21 years old.
Plastic materials are the core business of the company, comprising 35 percent of Taiwan Jhonsin's total revenues, according to Ben Chen. While housewares and office products account for 30 percent of its entire shipments, packing materials for the electronics industry comprise 25 percent. For the production of electronics packing materials, the president said he would invest another NT$300 million for the purchase of advanced equipment.
The table lamps with unique animal designs, made of plastic materials, are exported to leading hypermarts in Europe and the U.S. "We are using very sophisticated equipment imported from the U.S., Germany and Japan to manufacture our products for export," said the president. "By using advanced equipment, we are able to maintain top quality and punctual delivery."
Ben Chen was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. In fact, he was born in a poor farming family in Taipei county, northern Taiwan. When he finished his elementary school education, Chen was forced to leave school because his parents could not continue to provide him with school fees.
Facing this dilemma, he had no choice but to sell goods at night market. "I was very thrifty and saved as much money as possible. I hated to waste a single cent unnecessarily," Chen said. Savings meant a lot to him. Feeling the desire to continue secondary education like other schoolmates, he finally saved enough to go to junior high school.
While going to school, Ben continued to sell goods at the night market, continuing saving money for the future. He studied machinery in senior vocational school, after which he continued to study electronics at a two-year college.
His continuous struggles for money and education were not in vain. Eventually, he passed an entrance examination to enroll at Tamkang University in Taipei County, majoring in business administration.
After graduation, Ben Chen worked in the daytime and opened a steak restaurant in downtown Taipei in the evening. "I was moonlighting with one purpose in mind - to save more money to support my parents and pave the way for further studies in the U.S.," he explained.
His dream of reading for a Master's degree overseas came true. At the age of 33, Ben Chen left Taiwan for the U.S. to enter the Michigan State University, reading for an MBA.
With the acquisition of the MBA degree, he returned to Taiwan to continue running the company he founded. "During my absence, my wife helped me to run the factory and it was very well managed," commented the president of Taiwan Jhonsin Co., Ltd.